The Japanese ace would start from pole, although a poor start from the prime starting slot almost allowed Marvin Kirchhöfer to sneak ahead.[2] Fortunately for Matsushita he had the better line into Sainte Devote, meaning it was the ART that scrambled through into the lead out of the first corner.[2]

Indeed, with Markelov streaking clear out front, and Kirchhöfer a clear second, it was the fighting between third and eighth that stole the show.[2] The only lull in the fighting would come mid-race, when as VSC was thrown to allow Sean Gelael to be plucked from the barriers.[2]

Yet, there would be no significant changes to the order, the tight confines of Monte Carlo preventing any real lunges.[2] Regardless, there quintet of cars would run nose-to-tail for most of the race, with the train even beginning to catch Kirchhöfer in the closing stages, until the group broke apart.[2]

Out front, meanwhile, Matsushita was able to run at his own pace, and duly recorded fastest lap en-route to a dominant victory.[2] Kirchhöfer held off Marciello for second across the line, with Evans a lonely fourth after re-passing Nato late on.[2] The Frenchman would also slip behind Lynn, with Rowland and Markelov tucked right in behind.[2]

Contents

Background

The Circuit de Monaco was unmodified ahead of the Sprint Race, meaning there was no need for the GP2 Series to practice before the second race of the weekend.[1] There were, however, changes to the grid after some post-Feature penalties, with Antonio Giovinazzi once again knocked out of the top eight for an infringement.[3] That put Nobuharu Matsushita into the top eight in the results of the Feature, and therefore on pole for the Sprint Race.[3]

Milestones

Standings

Norman Nato would leave Monte Carlo at the head of the GP2 Series of 2016, a point clear of fellow race winner Artem Markelov after four races. Alex Lynn would end the weekend in third ahead of Pierre Gasly, mystified as to how he had failed to score, while Raffaele Marciello completed the top five. Elsewhere, Nobuharu Matsushita had leapt into seventh with his second victory in GP2, while there were no new faces on the scoreboard lower down.

In the Teams' Championship it was Russian Time whom had emerged on top on the Mediterranean coast, eleven clear of their nearest rivals. Those opponents appeared in the form of Racing Engineering, who were themselves five ahead of DAMS, suggesting there would be a close fight for the Championship. Indeed, Prema Racing barely had half the number of points of those ahead in fourth, and were instead in danger of slipping behind some vastly more experienced outfits behind them.